Many candidate’s social media posts appear suspiciously similar. A sample, from left, Rosanna Chamberlin, Vasil Beaton and Kam Singhania
Will Manno Theos win Courtenay in vote split? And are these candidates using AI?
M ost candidates running in the 2026 local government election had filed days before the nomination deadline passed at 4 pm Friday. Other candidates, who everyone knew would run but had not filed, popped their last-minute “Surprise! I’m running!” charade to no one’s surprise.
For the 30 percent of Comox Valley residents who vote in municipal elections, it was an exciting moment. The other 70 percent, who won’t vote, released a deep, collective yawn.
Well, it is true, you won’t find many surprises in this year’s candidate line-up. So, let’s have a look at the Good, the Bad and the Nothing’s New.
The Good News
MORE CANDIDATES – Seventy people are running for the 31 Comox Valley elected offices, an increase of 23 percent over the 57 who ran in 2022.
MORE WOMEN – Women account for 41 percent of the candidates (20 of 49) this year, excluding the School District (nine out of 11) ) and the Islands Trust (two out of 10). Comox has the highest percentage of women seeking office (seven out of 12) at 58 percent. That compares to 35 percent in Courtenay (eight out of 23) and 25 percent in Cumberland (two out of eight).
And, a woman is running for the mayor’s chair in Courtenay for the first time in 18 years, since Star Winchester ran for re-election 2008.
The Nothing’s New
DEJA VU – It feels like Groundhog Day all over again in Courtenay’s mayoral race, where the late-filing Trish McPhail will split the center-progressive vote, maybe clearing a path to His Honor’s chair for Manno Theos. Comox Valley’s sitting conservative MLA and MP both won their seats thanks to vote splitting between the NDP and Greens. Will it happen again? Maybe. It is highly unlikely that McPhail will take votes away from Theos supporters. Her share will come from Incumbent Mayor Bob Wells. The question here is: Can Wells and McPhail get enough new voters out to both outpoll Theos?
ACCLAIMED – Several candidates have already won their election races because no one challenged them. Comox Mayor Nicole Minions won her second consecutive election by acclamation. In two mayoral terms she has never been opposed. Cumberland Mayor Vickey Brown and Electoral Area A regional Director Daniel Arbour also were acclaimed.
SAME NAMES – Many familiar names dot the candidate list, again. Ken Grant seeks his seventh term on Comox Council, a total of 21 years. Maureen Swift has warmed her council chair for 15 years. Erik Eriksson … filed again. He won a council chair in 1986 and again in 2014. Then, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018 and again in 2022. This will be Jin Lin’s third try for Courtenay council. She came close in 2018 and 2022. Phil Adams got less than a 1,000 votes in 2022, but he’s having another go.
Candidates keep trying, because on election day, anything’s possible. Voters are a little like courtroom juries. Unpredictable. Just look at Brennan Day. Courtenay voters rejected him twice. Now he’s the riding’s MLA.
The Bad News
GET OUTTA HERE – We like that candidates have shared their reasons for seeking office on the competing Facebook politics pages. But we don’t like it when their words are almost identical. Check out the social media posts above and below. That’s just a small sampling of what’s being posted by many first-time candidates.
Is this plagiarism? Did some third party group write these posts for multiple candidates? Did these candidates use AI to write their posts? It’s almost certainly not a coincidence. Benvenuti’s post admits that it includes AI content. So what IS going on here? Whatever “it” is, it’s not a good look for these candidates.
BIG MONEY STINKS – We’re gagging on the prolific fake accounts and paid trolls trying to influence our local government elections, primarily for Courtenay City Council and mayor. They post angry and vacuous comments. When you click on their profile, you find nothing. A picture of a human, but no profile. No history of posts or friends. Nada. It’s just garbage littering the Internet.
ELECTION DAY OCT. 17
COMOX VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
– Cumberland candidates. 5:30 pm on Monday, Sept. 21 at the Cumberland Cultural Centre location.
– Comox candidates. 5:30 pm on Monday, Sept. 28 at the Comox Legion.
– Courtenay candidates. 5:30 pm on Thursday, Oct. 1 at the North Island College Stan Hagen Theatre.
COMOX VALLEY SOCIAL PLANNING SOCIETY
An all-candidates forum on the social determinants of health at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at the Westerly Best Western Hotel in Courtenay.
ADVANCE VOTING INFORMATION
Polls for the Oct. 17 election will open for advance voting on Oct. 7 and Oct. 14.
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Courtenay, Cumberland candidates respond to our seven-part questionnaire
So many candidates, so little time and opportunity to get to know them. With 47 people seeking mayors’s chairs or council seats, deciding who to vote for can boggle the mind. Don’t worry. The Decafnation traditional candidate questionnaire continues today with the responses from Courtenay and Cumberland candidates.
Municipal candidates hear about Comox Valley’s most pressing social issues
Candidates running in the Oct. 17 local government elections had the opportunity to hear first-hand from Comox Valley organizations on the front line of our most pressing social issues.
What does your vision of Comox look like? Six storey buildings down Comox Avenue?
Citizen concerns about increasing allowable building heights to six storeys are fueling this year’s emerging Town of Comox election issues — growth and community identity. Will the Comox of the future still have a small town feel or will it look like White Rock?
The City of Courtenay has chopped its total debt in half from 2012 to 2026
Here’s yet another way to understand the City of Courtenay’s financial management. The incumbent council has cut the the city’s total debt in half since 2012 and reduced its debt per capital by 64.7 percent during the same period. That’s fewer tax dollars spent on debt payments.
Provincial general election feels imminent — will the writ drop this week?
There are lots of signs pointing to Premier David Ebby calling for a BC general election as early as later this week. MLA Brennan Day will make an announcement in the next few days about whether he’ll run as an independent. And Courtenay Councillor Will Cole-Hamiltion withdrew his municipal re-election bid last Friday.
Courtenay’s controversial Sixth Street Bridge: Whose idea was it?
The idea for a pedestrian and cycling bridge at Sixth Street originated about 40 years ago and followed a roller coaster ride to completion. It might have never been built without the persuasive pleading from Downtown businesses in 2019. An effusive thumbs up from mayoral candidate Manno Theos might have helped, too.
Post-war attempt to ‘Run cities like a business’ by allowing sprawl failed miserably
After WWII, municipalities across Canada tried a private sector trick to generate revenue, but expanding a city’s tax base by allowing urban sprawl merely traded small temporary cash gains for the ticking time bomb of unfunded infrastructure liabilities … and the tax bill is now overdue
Fact: Courtenay property tax burden equal or lower than most same-sized BC cities
New candidates trying unseat Courtenay City Council incumbents claim the city’s property taxes are too high. But province-wide data shows that the city’s tax burden is the same or lower than same-sized municipalities. And City Council is leading the province with innovative fiscal policies
Retiring Courtenay City Councillors recap years of experience
Doug Hillian and Melanie McCollum will not be seeking re-election this for the Courtenay City Council. Hillian retired after 17 years on council. McCollum served for eight years.
The FINAL candidates for the 2026 local elections
A list of candidates for the 2026 municipal elections
I have two questions for potential mayoral and council candidates
1. Will you support and seek Amalgamation and in so doing create a Ward systm for the Comox Valley?
2. Will you seek to have a Comox Valley ten year plan to provide a new multi use Civic Centre which would include a new 50 meter Indoor Pool c/w with water fun area serving all ages, a new Performing Arts Centre, Exercise facilities, Racquet sports, meeting rooms… it could even include a restaurant viewing area of activities and the Beaufort range…
3. Cease and desist with any plan to build another outdoor pool – expand the water play area instead.
Mmmm re the similarity of justifications for running, (and the number of candidates mostly filing at the last minute) I suspect third party help, but i am the suspicious type.
And i think I saw there was some kind of candidates school in Victoria about a month ago…. but you know, see no evil etc
I won’t support candidates who use AI. Being a councillor means having the intellectual capacity to synthesize huge volumes of information and use critical thinking and judgement to assess it and draw conclusions. If a candidate is incapable of expressing a basic campaign statement without resorting to AI, they are surely not qualified to do the hard work of being a councillor. I do not want AI making decisions for my community.
Wanda, it’s popular to jump in with the anti-A.I. bunch. I’m old enough to remember when it was fear of microwave ovens.
A.I. is another, new tool, but one with greater potential than all other expert, information technologies combined – including our ancient, biological one.
We all need to LEARN to use it, proficiently. Don’t condemn another’s efforts. We all crawl before we run. I trust our local candidates will learn, too.
Hi Gerorge,
Thanks for pointing out that very few of eligible Courtenay voters turned up to vote in the 2022 election. Over 70 percent of voters were not engaged to vote.
Why do you think that most residents of Courtenay had no interest in their community and candidates who managed the City for the four years.? Did they give up?
Hopefully, the fact that some of the glaring issues of the four years , still exist, will motivate more eligible voters to vote .
Any predictions on voter turn out this October, in Courtenay?
Most municipalities in BC get a low voter for every local government election. That is not unique to the Comox Valley. Cumberland gets one of the higher turnouts, usually around 40 to 50 percent.
Thanks George.